Boys of Rosewood Poker Night
by Double Obsession
Summary: Inspired by a cast interview, the boys of PLL - including Ezra, Toby, Caleb, and many more - gather for a night of cards, camaraderie, and perhaps a bit of mischief-making.


**Author's Note: This story is a collaboration between two authors. We got the idea from an interview with Ian Harding, Keegan Allen, and Tyler Blackburn in which they mentioned that they'd like to have more scenes together, such as a poker night at Ezra's apartment (the link can be found on our profile). Enjoy!**

* * *

It started off as any normal Saturday night in Rosewood, Pennsylvania. Two young boys (Caleb and Toby) nonchalantly strutted down the street, their hands stuffed in their coat pockets to keep out the chilly winter air. As they walked, they chatted about average teenage boy things like funny stories involving their girlfriends and boring class subjects. To any passersby they seemed like typical Rosewood boys. However, where they were headed was a story of all its own.

"So, are you prepared to lose?" Caleb asked Toby as they neared their destination, elbowing the other boy and grinning.

"You say that now, but we'll see who's laughing at the end of the night," Toby replied.

"Who else is coming to this thing, anyway?" Caleb said.

"Spencer said that Aria's little brother was coming. That's all I know," Toby said.

"So, in a way, it's a surprise party," joked Caleb as they rounded the corner and headed into the apartment building.

"I guess we'll just have to see," Toby said. They'd climbed up the flight of stairs and were now standing in front of a door that read "3B." Raising his fist, Toby knocked. There was no sound other than a shuffle on the other side, and then it creaked open.

"Come on in," Ezra said, opening the door wider when he saw who it was.

"It's party time," Caleb said as Toby took an appreciative look around the room and commented, "Nice apartment, man."

"Make yourselves comfortable," Ezra invited them, gesturing toward the couches. "Can I get you guys anything to drink? I have plenty of sodas."

"Nah, I'm good," Caleb said, plopping down onto the couch.

"I'll take a root beer, if you've got some," Toby said.

"Sure," Ezra said. He tossed a can of soda to Toby, keeping a second one for himself and joining Caleb on the couch. However, no sooner had he gotten himself settled than another knock came from the door. Ezra sighed and got up to answer it.

As Toby and Caleb started chatting on the leather sofa, Ezra cheerfully opened the door, and was met by Sean and Alex...who also happened to be the exes of the other boys' current girlfriends.

"Hey, guys," Ezra welcomed them while he let them pass. "Caleb, Toby, Alex and Sean are here."

This night was all about fun, so Toby packed away the tinge of jealousy and instead introduced himself. Caleb did the same.

Just as the new duo sat down to join the party, there came another knock at the door, causing Ezra to let out an exasperated sigh.

Sean, however, sensed Ezra's annoyance and quickly said, "I'll get it." He jumped up and opened the door to reveal three more arrivals: Mike, Holden, and Lucas.

"Are we late?" Holden asked, stepping inside and looking around at the rapidly filling apartment.

"Not at all," Ezra answered. "Actually, we still have a couple more people coming, so make yourselves at home while we wait."

The three boys joined the others, introducing themselves to those they didn't know. They even managed to get in a few minutes of drinks and conversation before they heard yet another knock on the door.

Jumping up from his spot on the couch, Ezra opened the door with his pop can still in his hand, and came face-to-face with Noel Kahn. "Hello, Mr. Fitz," Noel said as he shoved his hands in his jean pockets. Ezra didn't move aside, and Noel raised an eyebrow. "I am on the invitation list, aren't I?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Come in," Ezra said once he shook himself from his daze. He remembered Noel Kahn: how he dated Aria, knew about their illicit affair, and even blackmailed him for a better grade. But that was all in the past, going on to a year now, and Ezra was willing to let it go for one night.

There were a few confused glances exchanged in the room when Noel's voice was heard, but they hastily changed to smiles when he entered the room. Ezra closed the door behind him and counted the number of people present.

"It looks like we're only missing one person," he said. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Ezra, who luckily hadn't moved far from the door yet, opened it again. However, he found not one, but two people – and neither of them were on the guest list. The man on the right was unfamiliar to Ezra, but his eyes narrowed when he recognized the man on the left.

"Hello," said the man he didn't recognize with a heavy British accent. "I don't think we've met. I'm Wren." Politely, Wren gave him his hand. From the couch, Toby stiffened and was about ready to shoot out of his chair, if it weren't for Caleb's firm hand on his shoulder.

Confused, Ezra kindly shook it. "Nice to meet you...I guess," he mumbled, then his eyes trained on the burly man next to him. "Jake."

"Ezra," Jake greeted him. Slyly, he turned one corner of his mouth upward into a smirk.

But this was no time for formalities. No, Ezra needed to get to the point. "What are you two doing here?"

"I'd like to know that myself," Toby whispered to Caleb.

"The word on the street was that there was a poker night going on tonight, and we thought we'd check it out," Jake said casually.

"An _invite-only _poker night," Ezra corrected him. "And the last time I checked, you two were not invited. So please get out of here."

"We came all this way. Can't we at least stay for a little while?" Wren asked.

"Don't make me tell you again. Leave. Now," Ezra said.

Toby couldn't take it anymore, and he jumped out of his seat. "Yeah, he told you to leave!"

Defeated, Wren and Jake put their arms up in peace. "All right, all right... We'll _leave_," Jake said as him and Wren shuffled down the hallway. "Jeez, those guys are intense."

With that, Ezra slammed the door and faced his guests, who all seemed a bit tense. "Come on, don't let a couple rude guys ruin your night," he said. "Let's get this game started!"

"I thought you said there was one more person coming," Alex pointed out.

"Right. I guess I got distracted by that… minor disturbance," Ezra said. There was another rap on the door, and Ezra opened it, praying that it wasn't more unwanted guests. To his relief, it was Jason DiLaurentis.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late," Jason apologized. "I was out around town, and I lost track of the time."

"No problem," Ezra said. "We were just about to start."

Meanwhile, in the dark alleyway outside Ezra's apartment, Jake and Wren settled down next to two overflowing garbage cans. "So," Jake said, interrupting the awkward silence.

"So," replied Wren, who also didn't know what to say.

"Why'd you get kicked out?" Jake asked. It was the only question he could think of off the spot.

"I dated that Toby kid's girlfriend, Spencer," Wren replied honestly. "You?"

"I dated Aria. She broke up with me to go back to the guy who lives here." Jake sighed. "She was nice about it... I guess."

"What did she do?"

"Walked in during one of my classes all business-like and told me she didn't think this was going to work out. When I asked her why, she simply said that she'd cheated on me with her ex and was going back to him."

"And what did you say?"

"Nothing. She just walked away quickly, all my students watching, and I hit the punching bag we were using. I was angry for a while, but I'm over it now." Wren nodded his head in understanding. "You?"

"Oh, we just stopped seeing each other after a while. Then on a few occasions when she was having a hard time with Toby she'd lead me on then dump me on the spot."

The lesson learned: Don't date pretty girls who are already in love with someone else. It's not fun being a rejected love interest. Not at all.

Back in Ezra's apartment, the guys were gathering around the kitchen table for their poker game. Caleb offered to be the first dealer and began shuffling the cards as the others tossed money into the center of the table.

The game was fast-paced and lively. Money was added to the rapidly growing pot and cards were turned over to various reactions. It was Mike who emerged victorious in the first hand with a strong full house, impressing the rest of the players, though they tried to hide it by teasing him for being the youngest member of the group. Mike merely rolled his eyes as he collected his winnings.

"How old am I getting if I can't even win at cards?" Ezra joked as he, for the third time, poked fun at Mike's age.

"One more word out of your mouth, Fitz, and my sister will beat you up," Mike defended himself, using his biggest weapon and Ezra's weakness: Aria.

Toby and Caleb sat on that thought. "Yeah, she would." Then they both agreed that their girlfriends would start beating on them, too, for no reason other than a bad excuse and weird female hormones.

"Another round?" Sean changed the subject, and Holden, Alex, Lucas, and Jason nodded their heads eagerly while Ezra, Caleb, Toby, and Mike retreated to the kitchen for snacks. They chatted about random things, but their fun was interrupted by no other than Noel Kahn.

"What do you want, Noel?" Toby said irritably. He, along with a few other guys, was still wondering why Noel had been invited to the party in the first place.

"Easy, man. I just thought I should let you guys know that Jason's cheating," Noel said.

"And what makes you say that?" Caleb asked.

"I see these things," Noel answered. "Besides, he's a shady guy, don't you think?"

The four boys stared at him. "We're going to need better proof than that," Ezra said at last. "I haven't noticed anything suspicious about Jason's behavior."

Toby scoffed. Jason cheating? He wasn't the same guy he was three years ago! "You bluff, Noel."

"No, I swear!" Noel put his hands up in defense. "Go see for yourself."

Skeptically, the boys left the kitchen and retook their seats. They didn't know how they were going to prove or disprove Noel's accusations, so they decided to lay it out straight.

"Fair game, boys?" Caleb asked nonchalantly as he picked up his cards.

All the boys grumbled in agreement, Toby sneaking up behind Jason and peeking at his cards. The odds were fair; Jason wasn't cheating with his deck. Caleb and Ezra studied Jason's eyes to see if he was watching the others. He wasn't. Noel hadn't told the truth.

After a few more hands, it was clear that Jason wasn't going to be cheating anytime soon. Ezra, who felt the need to deal with issues that arose since he was the host of the party, asked to speak with Noel in the kitchen.

"Listen, Noel," Ezra said, calmly yet firmly. "I think you were making false accusations about Jason. I've seen nothing to indicate that he is cheating."

"He was!" Noel insisted. "He probably stopped because he noticed that I caught on to him."

"Look," Ezra said. "I don't know why you would do something like this, but I can't tolerate it. However, if you'll admit that you were lying and apologize, I'm willing to let this incident go and never talk about it again."

"I'm not going to admit to anything," Noel proclaimed proudly.

"Okay," Ezra said. Noel clearly was not going to confess. "Then you'll have to leave."

"What?" Noel sputtered angrily, cheeks and neck flushing red. "You can't kick me out!"

"If you haven't noticed, it's my apartment," Ezra explained calmly as he tried not to get worked up by Noel's presence. "So yes, I can."

"Who's going to make me leave?" Noel challenged, trying to regain his composure.

"Noel, there are eight more guys out in the other room. At least three of them know that you lied, and I can't guarantee that they haven't told the rest. I don't think the odds are in your favor," Ezra said.

"I say bring it on," Noel said confidently.

Ezra sighed. Noel was leaving him no choice. He had tried to talk civilly with Noel, but it wasn't working at all. He had to call in some back-up.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ezra shook his head in disappointment. "If you say so." Exiting the kitchen, he called for Toby and Caleb, who responded and were instantaneously at his side.

"What's going on?" Toby asked, sizing Noel up.

"You guys can't make me leave," Noel spat mockingly.

"Oh yeah?" Caleb was now fuming. He was close to rolling up his shirt sleeves for a proper fight.

"You don't have to fight with us, Noel," Toby spoke up. Ezra agreed with a "Just back down now and leave."

Noel targeted Toby first. "Who made you so soft?" he laughed. "That frizzy-haired nerd?" Toby, too dumbfounded to respond, wanted so badly to punch the smirk off his face, but found it manageable - for now. Criticism was expected from anger, right? He could handle it. Next Noel turned to Caleb. "And that girlfriend of yours? Enjoy her now before she blows up like a whale...again."

"That's enough, Noel!" Ezra shouted. Insulting their girlfriends was just going too far.

"I haven't even gotten to you yet, Mr. Fitz," Noel scoffed. "Because I know that that girlfriend of yours, your student, is a boring, nasty tramp."

"All right," Toby cut in, seeing Ezra's furious expression. "You're making this problem a lot bigger than it needs to be. Lying to us was one thing, but bringing the girls in was completely uncalled for."

Noel's eyes narrowed, but he didn't respond. The others hoped he'd finally run out of insults. But then, without warning, he delivered a swift punch to Caleb's stomach. Caleb doubled over, the wind knocked out of him.

That was the last straw. Toby and Ezra immediately jumped on Noel, and Caleb joined in once he caught his breath. They raised such a commotion that the other guys began to get worried.

"What's going on in there?" Sean wondered.

"Do you think we should intervene?" Lucas asked.

Right as they turned their heads and saw the boys beating each other up, Noel being slammed against the fridge, a knock echoed across the brawl. "Who can _that _be?" Jason asked, and Lucas answered the door.


End file.
